Connecting a digital mixing console, stage box, amplifier, and floor monitors is a fundamental setup for live sound. Here’s a step-by-step guide to get you up and running.

Connecting the Digital Console and Stage Box

Your digital mixing console and stage box are the heart of the system. The stage box, often placed on or near the stage, acts as a remote input/output (I/O) unit. It has XLR inputs for microphones and instruments and outputs for your monitors and main speakers.

1. Connect with a Single Cable: Most modern digital mixers and their companion stage boxes use a single Ethernet-style cable (Cat5e or Cat6) to transmit multiple channels of digital audio. 
2. Use the Correct Protocol: Make sure the stage box and mixer use the same digital audio protocol, such as AES50 .
3. Power On and Sync: Plug in the power for both the console and the stage box. They should automatically establish a connection, and the console will recognize the stage box’s inputs and outputs. Check your console’s screen or a status light on the stage box to confirm a successful connection.

Routing to the Floor Monitors

Once the stage box is connected, you can route individual signals to the floor monitors so performers can hear themselves.

1. Auxiliary Sends: Floor monitors are typically fed from the console’s auxiliary sends (often called “aux sends” or “mix buses”). These outputs allow you to create a completely separate, custom mix for each monitor on stage.
2. Pre-Fader Mode: Set your aux sends to pre-fader mode. This is crucial. It means the level of a channel sent to a monitor mix is independent of the channel’s main fader. You can adjust the volume of a vocal in the house mix (the main speakers) without changing the volume of that same vocal in the singer’s monitor.
3. Console Routing: On your digital console’s screen or with its controls, assign a specific aux output to a physical output on the stage box. For example, you might route “Aux 1” to “Output 1” on the stage box.

Connecting the Amplifier and Floor Monitors

Passive (unpowered) floor monitors require an external power amplifier.

1. Console to Amplifier: Run a balanced audio cable (usually an XLR) from the assigned aux output on your stage box to the input of your power amplifier. If you have two monitors for a stereo or two-mix setup, you’ll use two aux outputs and two amplifier channels.
2. Amplifier to Monitors: Connect the amplifier’s speaker output to the floor monitor’s input. The most common connectors are Speakon or 1/4″ TS. Use a heavy-gauge speaker cable, not a standard instrument cable. Ensure you match the amplifier’s output impedance (measured in ohms) to the speaker’s impedance to prevent damage.

Adjust Levels: Start with the amplifier’s gain control at a low level. Turn up the master aux send on the digital mixer to a safe level, then slowly increase the amplifier’s gain until the monitor is at a usable volume. Fine-tune the mix for the performer using the individual aux send knobs on each channel.

How the Connection Works

A single cable serves as the delivery method for the amplified audio signal. 

1. Signal from the Console: The mixing console sends a low-voltage, line-level signal to the amplifier’s input.
2. Amplifier’s Role: The amplifier takes that weak signal and dramatically increases its voltage and current. This gives it the power needed to drive a speaker.
3. Speaker Cable’s Role: The single speaker cable then carries this now-powerful, high-current signal from the amplifier’s output to the speaker’s input.